Miami, FL
Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science, Gulf Stream Tank Formwork
Scope/Solutions
The new three-story Museum of Science is a living laboratory that invites visitors to learn about science and technology with an emphasis on South Florida’s culture and ecosystem. The 250,000 sq ft building features a Gulf Stream Tank within the Living Core building. Supporting over 500,000 gal of sea water, the elevated tank structure comprises an acrylic oculus to allow museum visitors to look into the tank from below. SGH consulted on the complex formwork for the 125 ft dia. conical, cast-in-place concrete Gulf Stream Tank.
Over the course of numerous projects, CW Keller and SGH developed an integrated approach to modeling, design, and off-site fabrication of complex formwork geometries.
By combining SGH’s experience with concrete materials, construction, and analysis of complex assemblies with CW Keller’s advanced modeling and fabrication capabilities, we provided Baker Concrete Construction with a creative formwork solution for the complex Gulf Stream Tank. Our team developed a cost effective, rapidly-constructed formwork to negotiate the complex geometry between the standard, orthogonal formwork tables and the architecturally-exposed, conical underside of the Gulf Stream Tank.
With this project, we demonstrated that quality modeling for fabrication can simplify model sharing for advanced analyses and provide opportunities for material optimization.